Awards and transitions

This post is a bit of catching up. Last Wednesday was my last dive at Mystic Aquarium, in the beluga tank. I loved diving there, but now I’m onto bigger and better things. I want to see more of the ocean, not the aquarium. I met a lot of great people, and honestly there is nothing like seeing a beluga squished up next to the gate he is behind because he is SO smart and curious about the divers. It breaks my heart though, to see such inquisitive animals in captivity. I guess the rationale is that a few animals end up in the aquarium and end up inspiring so many people to donate money, research, and protect these animals in the wild. For that reason, I appreciate the aquarium. I just reaaaaaaally don’t agree with going out into the wild, capturing animals, and putting them in a tank. Breeding in captivity or rescuing injured animals and putting them in captivity is fine, but I don’t believe in removing a healthy animal from the wild. Saturday night I babysat- always refreshing as I love the kids, they love me, and it’s a great break from school (the money’s not bad either!). Sunday was the honors medals ceremony up at Storrs. Mom, Dad, and Josh came up to school to see me receive a medal for being successful in the honors program thus far in my academic career. Only 287 kids out of the graduating over 4,500 received this honor. I felt pretty accomplished getting it, and it was great to see a lot of my old friends, as freshman year my entire dorm was honors students! After we were all awarded they went into detail about the university scholars (which I’m not) and about how some of the received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in their four years at UConn. Clearly I’ve been slacking! It didn’t feel like all that special of an award to me as a couple hundred of my friends also received it, but I guess I should be really proud of it. When we went to the Seahorse restaurant in Noank afterwards, my parents told the restaurant owner and the waitress all about it, which made me realize that it really is quite an honor and that I should be proud of it. My parents have always been my biggest supporters, and I couldn't thank them enough if I tried. The only catch about the award is that it is pending my GPA and honors thesis. I’m still working on my thesis (it’s due June 1st), and my GPA is dependent on these finals, which I’m currently going to get back to studying for. Four finals, two graduations, and moving out all this week. I’m looking forward to next week where I can just relax! Oh yeah, also, I drove out to Narragansett today to look at a bunch of places to live, as I’m starting grad school in June! I ended up looking at three different houses, all a bit different but with the same rules. I’m not 100% sure this is where I want to live, because guests have to be out by 9 pm (occasionally I’m up til 4 am doing homework- what if I’m doing a project with someone else?) and we can’t have guests- i.e. if Heather wanted to come out she couldn’t stay the night, or if Flora came up, etc. I LOVE entertaining and it’s really not possible. Furthermore, I was only looking at room rentals, where you share a kitchen and a common area (for about $575 per month, utilities included). For $475 I can get a room (with a shared bathroom) but there is no kitchen access. Each room is supplied with a mini fridge and a microwave. George Foreman grills and Keurig coffeepots are allowed, but no actual burner. I’m still trying to figure out if access to a real stove and oven is worth the extra $100 per month. Ideally I want to get an efficiency apartment (which I can get for about $600 per month). The only thing I was really excited about was that these room rentals were directly across the street from the U.R.I. main campus, which is where I will be taking some classes. Also, it’s across the street from a pottery studio- something I’ve ALWAYS wanted to learn to do. So that extra $300 I’d save on rent for not having a stove I can put into taking a pottery class. Pictures: Here’s a picture of me and Hillary from Gloucester the other weekend. There’s also a picture of a cool old factory that’s literally right on the water- must be interesting in storms and spring tides (where they’re higher than usual!). There’s also a couple pictures of fishing boats. There’s also a picture from lining up on stage at the honors medals ceremony, and some family photos from afterwards with the husky statue. Ending this post with a couple of quotes: “Far from what I once was but not yet what I’m going to be” “Life is easy when you look back on it, it’s even easier when you look forward to it”